This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. One goal of this COBRE proposal is to establish the triangle UNMC-Creighton-Boys Town NRH as a recognized Center of Research Excellence in Neurosensory Development. With the commitment of all three institutions to human health care, the mouse will be the paramount model organism for future biomedical research on this topic. The presence and availability of a Mouse Core will, therefore, not only benefit the initial COBRE Investigators through the on-site establishment of the pertinent mouse models, but will serve as an essential recruiting tool once the initial COBRE Investigators will rotate off and new Investigators will be brought aboard. We anticipate that such recruits will also focus on the mouse, use genetically manipulated mice to advance their research. In particular, junior Investigators with limited experience with mice would greatly benefit from Mouse Core support services. Furthermore, we expect that the expression profiling experiments of several projects of this proposal will yield results that merit the generation of new transgenic and knockout mouse models for the respective genes in order to study their function in neurosensory development. We are therefore convinced that the availability of a Mouse Core will significantly enhance the competitiveness of new applications for extramural funding that are fostered by this COBRE proposal.